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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEG MAECUs E. KING, OE CLEVELAND, OHIO, AssiGNOE OE ONE-HALE 'ro JOHN GOUCHEE, OE sAME PLACE.

FIFTH-WHEEL FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,822, dated January 18, 1881.

Application filed May 24, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARCUS F. KING, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and Improved Fifth-Wheel; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and completedescription thereof.

This invention relates to a certain` improvement in fth-wheels for carriages.

The said improvement consists in dispens.

ing witha king-bolt in immediate connection with the axle and body on which the axle rotates on turning around the carriage, as ordinarily constructed, and in the use of a hollow pintle depending from the center of the upper plate, working in a socket in the lower plate, the outer edger of the upper plate having a flange to cover the lower plate.

The invention is more fully described in the following specification, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of the same, in which- Figure l is a top view-of the fifth-wheel. Fig. 2 is a view of the under side. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken in the line a c. Fig. 4 is a. transverse section taken in the line b b.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several views.

The fth-wheel above alluded to is composed of two sections, an upper one, A, anda lower, B. The upper section is provided with a peripheral dependent flange, C, Fig. 3, and a cross-bar, D. From the center of the crossbar depends a core, E, the pivotal center of the fifth-wheel. Across one side of the wheel is a broad plain surface, F, Fig. 1, the purpose of which .will presently be shown.

The lower section, B,above referred to, of the wheel, consists of a ring fitted within the annular flange Cv of the upper section, as shown in Figs. 3 and'4, in which it will be seen that the said ring is not tted closely in the upper section, there being an annular space -betweenthe ring and theflange C to permit a free movement of thetwo sections upon and within each other. Theflower section or ring, B, is also provided with an annular dependentflange, G, and a cross-bar, H. From Jthe under side'of said bar depends a socket, I, in which is fitted and rotates the pivotal core E,

(No model.)

above alluded to. Across one vside of the ring B is a broad plain surface, J, Fig. 2, corre sponding to the plain surface F of the upper section of the wheel, and with which it has a surface-bearing, as shown in the drawings.

Having described the construction of the fifth-wheel, the practical application of the same to a carriage is as follows:

To the under side of the surface J of the ring B is secured the axle of the carriage, so that the fifth-wheel will be in the rear thereof. To the surface F of the upper section of the wheel is secured the front spring of the carriage, provided with a cross-bar or bolster, to which the front end of the body of the carriage is attached, which may be done in the ordinary way. It will be obvious from this position of the fifth-Wheel that the axle and the end of the body are secured to the front edge Or side of the fifth-wheel, and that the pivotal center of the wheel is back from the axle. Hence, as the axle swivels on turning the carriage around, the pivotal center of the fifth-wheel is the axis of such movement of the axle, whereas in ordinary fth-wheels the axleturns on a kin g-bolt'passin g down through the axle, or is secured to the axle bya bandclip passing around the axle.

The purpose of securing the axle and the body of the carriage to the fifth-wheel on one side of the pivotal axis, or eccentric to said pivotal axis, is to permit the carriage-wheels to turn farther around toward the body before interfering therewith; hence the carriage can be turned around in a shorter space. The axle, being some distance `from the center of the fifth-wheel, will, on turning around the carriage, carry the wheels farther back toward the hind wheels, and at the same time the front end of the carriage body or box will be carried in the opposite direction from the side that the vehicle is turning around, thereby giving more room for the axle to swing around the wheel. The distance that the box will move away from the wheel of the turning axle will be the distance from the center of the fifth-wheel to the axle-nearly one-half the diameter of the fifth-wheel.

In some carriages the axle is secured directly over the center of the fifth-wheel, in which IOO event the axis ofthe fifth-wheel is also the axis of the axle, both turning at the center; hence the wheels of the carriage swing around in a. smaller circle and collide with the carriage box sooner than when the axle of the wheels is secured to the fifth-wheel on one side of its center, as hereinbef'ore described.

No king-bolt is used in this iifth-wheel, as the core E and its socket are substituded for a king-bolt. A small bolt may be passed through the core simply for the purpose of keeping the upper and lower sections of the fthwheel together. The reach K and section A of the fifth-wheel are in one piece. Thus the reach is made to support the fth-wheel in its horizontal position, while the lower section is held in place by the bolt alluded to, or by any other suitable means.

MARCUS FOWLER KING.

Witnesses:

J. H. BURRIDGE, H. E. CAHILL. 

